mealy-mouthed

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“
So thank you, George Galloway, for showing Britain's latest bunch of mealy-mouthed, hand-wringing leaders some backbone.

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Definitions (5)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. adjective Unwilling to state facts or opinions simply and directly.
  2. Word History
    It seems fitting that Martin Luther, a man noted for the forthright expression of his ideas, may have had a hand in giving us the contemptuous term we apply to those unwilling to state facts or opinions directly. Mealy-mouthed may come from a saying such as German Mehl im Maule behalten, "to carry meal in the mouth, that is, not to be direct in speech,” which occurs in Luther's writings. In English we find the terms mealmouth (1546) and meal-mouthed (1576) recorded around the same time that we find mealymouthed (around 1572). Mealy-mouthed is the only form that survived to describe this trait described by Luther, which not only survives but flourishes in our time.

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Examples (50)

  • Other times, he seems mealy-mouthed and spouts cliches and sound-bytes. —  World and Global Politics Blog
  • This is manipulation of an order to match that of the blogger who insists his outrageous claims are backed by evidence he won't reveal "to protect his sources": the cheapest of shots is covered by the most mealy-mouthed of hedges.
  • His Democratic counterpart, Barack Obama, issued a predictably mealy-mouthed statement complaining that "too many folks in Washington and on Wall Street weren't minding the store." —  RINF Alternative News Media: Daily Breaking News
  • But while hardman Gerry Adams offers only mealy-mouthed criticism of the killers, we shouldn't bet against it.
  • GE Money Bank had both firms send me a mealy-mouthed letter reducing my credit to near zero.
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